New "Song of Norway"

MY STORY: Halleluja! New "Song of Norway" for Railway Engine Driver.

My name is Børge Salte, I work as an engine driver in Norway. This past year I´ve experienced a great renewal in my relationship with Jesus Christ. I shared this at the annual general meeting in Goslar, Germany this year and I was asked to write my testimony to be published for the joy and encouragement of others railway employees. I´ll do my best to explain what´s happened to me, I want to point out this is about what Jesus has done for me, and my wish is to exalt only Him.

I grew up on a farm in Southern Norway. We were five siblings and we had a mother and a father who loved us. They would tell us about what Jesus has done for us all, and they took us to meetings and Sunday school. Christian values have followed us ever since we were children. As I got older it became perfectly natural for me to engage in and contribute to church activities. I became an electrician and started my working career. At the age of twenty, I was called up for military service in North Norway in 1995, it was something that I really looked forward to. I was excited about new routines and doing service for the King of Norway. I remember the flight from Oslo to Harstad, and the welcome we received when we arrived at the military base. We were divided into troops. They placed us in rooms of six, something that I was nervous about. The last thing my mother told me before I left was these words; “You must not forget Je-sus when you leave, Børge, put the Bible on your nightstand on the very first day, then you have confessed to them all that you are a Christian, and remember that your father and I will be praying for you”. When we got into our room I remember a little pamphlet lying on everyone’s bed. The military priest had put them there, and in big letters,, it said, “He died for you”. I remember that this made an impression on me I took out my bible and remembered the words of Jesus that he would never let go and never leave me. I was accepted for my faith and I could relax. After a short while I got a question from the military priest if I wanted to be his assistant and be removed from my annual service. I should have done this for the Lord who has done so much for me but I found it more thrilling to be at service in the infantry than to serve the Lord. I was a machine gunner and got to participate in some real action. A year later I was transferred to a military department close to my hometown.

I started going to a church again in my hometown. This is where I met my wife. We have four children and I have a family that I am proud of and that I love dearly. In 2009 I moved to Oslo and started my education as an engine driver. It took me two years, and then I moved back home and got a job close to home in Stavanger. I met Christian colleagues and was introduced to the work of RailHope. I found it interesting and joined the board. I went to my first conference at IRM in Hungary in 2013 and got to know other Christian train employees. This is where I met John Lunn who was the coordinator for “prayer letter”. I remember John bluntly asking me if I was a “born again Christian”. I told him my story and remember this meeting because he prayed, by faith for a new RailHope Norway and me before I went back home. I went back to work but noticed that it cost me a lot to confess that I wanted to follow Jesus at my workplace. It was hard to talk about Jesus. I lacked boldness. Every day life caught up with me and I was losing my courage. It was hitting my self-worth and boldness. I decided to attend the “Fit&Fun” week in Switzerland and had an amazing time together with other Christian railway colleagues in IRM. I got to see how they were evangelists for Jesus, and how they boldly would hand out calendars and share about Jesus.

I wished I would be able to share that with my colleagues. I travelled home to Norway, with a grateful heart. I´ve struggled with my temper all my life. I get annoyed and angry. This affected my family and mostly my wife. In the middle of a situation like this the devil would come to me saying, “There you see, Børge, your thoughts about starting a RailHope Norway are never going to work. You cannot do Christian work among your colleagues. If you don’t have what it takes to do this, just give up! Jesus is only with you when life is great and it´s going your way. When things are hard you have to manage on your own. You can´t even manage your own temper in your own home”. I remember my despair and how hopeless it all seemed.

I now can´t hold back the tears of joy when I try to describe what happened. I prayed to Jesus and asked him to confirm if working with RailHope was something that I should do, and I asked him to give me boldness. I remember my time in the military annual service when I rejected being a servant for Jesus. In the middle of this Jesus showed me the story of Jonah who walked away instead of obeying God. I read about Jonah who was in the dark belly of a fish, and who later vomited him onto dry land. The salvation of Jesus was revealed to me. I got to see and experience God´s love as never before. While I was filled with guilt and despair Jesus met me with these words: “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”, (Romans 8:1). It was for me! The debt of sin was paid, and the shame was crushed on Calvary. Jesus moved in and healed my heart. Jesus told me that all this was forgiven. This was a brand new start for me. Jesus is the one who destroys my iniquities and forgets my sin. I got to experience the joy of salvation! I got to experience what it means to be “born-again”. I got to experience what the Holy Spirit can do in a cold heart of stone. The grief, adversity and despair were replaced with cheers and joy. I was filled with the love of Jesus. I got to experience the Bible verse: “those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame”, (Psalm 34:5). Even the shame of my anger and my past was gone! I got a new family, the children got a new father and my wife got a new husband! For ten years I hated a friend for an incident that occurred, but after the experience of being totally forgiven, I had to go and see him. I had not spoken to him for ten years but we made up. HALLELUJAH! The hatred was exchanged with love. Every now and then I get the urge to call him up and tell him that I love him. Jesus changed me on the inside! I got my boldness back! I´ve testified to my family, friends, colleagues and my church. My wife and I share the most important thing in life, which is God’s word, and we´re so blessed. My youngest daughter asked me the other day: “what´s happened to you dad, you´re so happy. Is it because you forgave your buddy?”. With tears streaming down my face I got to explain to her how Jesus has moved from my brain and into my heart. She looked at me and smiled, then she said “you´re different daddy, you're Happy”.

Ever since my encounter with Jesus I´ve walked with the Lord daily. Daily I live in His grace, daily I receive His blessings and daily I get to know the amazing love of Jesus. It has done something inside of me, that I cannot explain. I love Jesus more than anything on this planet!

One day the Lord challenged me while at my workplace. He asked me to bring two people from RailHope and go to Stavanger Train Station and share about Jesus in the lunch room at work. I did what the Lord asked me to do. I remember how nervous I was the night before the gathering. I prayed all night that He would have to give me boldness. I was terrified! Then Jesus came and filled me with heavenly peace. We drove to the station and the boldness arrived. I remember feeling Jesus’ presence was with us. During this gathering, we experienced a “peculiar” kind of peace that is difficult to describe. No one mocked or laughed at us. They seemed grateful that we had come. We shared the gospel. It´s an experience that I´ll never forget, the blessing that came after was indescribable. To testify of Jesus and what He has done in my life is the greatest thing I get to do. With this start, we laid the foundation for RailHope Norway.

I´ve been a Christian all my life – but everything turned out once I got to know Him. I encountered His love and received His blessings, and today I am a new Børge. So now we have experienced the greatest joy of all; colleagues have accepted Christ. Hallelujah! This gives us the confidence to continue our work. Currently, we´ve only had gatherings in Stavanger, we meet up to six times a year. We also have a webpage, www.railhopenorge.com, that connects with other Christians all over the country. We distribute calendars from IRM and we´re actively working on establishing local groups throughout Norway. We have contacts all around that distribute IRM calendars. Pray for these, that they may get boldness and see the greatness of Jesus' salvation.

It´s amazing to know that salvation is not resting on my capability and skills. It rests on the one who gave His life so that we could live. It´s all I need, it´s all you need, and it´s all our colleagues need! So dear colleague: it´s never too late to get on the right track! I´ve learned to pray each day, asking Jesus for his guidance. I fill myself with His word and I thank Him for all the blessings in my life.